[katiebear26]

hi all.

i'm moving my little one into her cot this week and i am thoroughly confused as to what to use and how to do it. there are so many opinions and i would like to see what has worked for others before i confuse DD!

we use a love to dream swaddle that she loves, and i have the one with zip-off arms but she doens't like that yet. she sucks on her hands through the swaddle if i don't give her a dummy, but won't suck on her hands if i zip the arms off.

so my questions are:

- if i use the love to dream swaddle in the cot, do i also use a sheet? and a blanket? it's warm / hot here when she goes to bed but cooler by 3/4am so i'm not sure she will be warm enough?

- when do i take the arms off the swaddle - the wesbite says 'when you're baby is ready' - obviously she can't tell me so how do i know??

- or should i put her straight into a sleeping bag in the cot, and not use the swaddle at all?

ETA - in the swaddle she moves around the cot, doesn't roll over yet but it's only a matter of time! she shuffles around sometimes so i'm worried about using a sheet.

- i would like to wean her off the dummy. should i do this before moving her into the cot or after? i'm conscious of changing too much at once but don't know the order.



thanks - any info would be great!

This post has been edited by katiebear26: 03/12/2012, 02:44 PM

[KRT]

- I used a sleeping bag, and then wrapped DS over the sleeping bag. I don't know what would work with the love to dream swaddle. Wrapping over the top meant that we could have his arms up, and even one arm in, one arm out, with only his shoulders and chest covered by the wrap.

- 'When your baby is ready' would mean when they're using their hands to suck on to help settle themselves, or when they start to roll. For DS, we wrapped with his hands up until 6 months, then went to one arm out until 8 months. By then he really started rolling so we got rid of the wrap all at once. This is where the video monitor was handy - we could watch to see if he was trying to settle and then go in and wrap if he was struggling.

- When it's really hot at bedtime, we'll go in just before we go to bed and tuck a blanket lightly over DS. We've even had success putting him down for bed without a sleeping bag and then putting him into it during the night. However, you would be surprised how big a temperature range they can cope with.

How old is your DD? I would want to get rid of the dummy by 4.5months or so if possible, but once they grow out of the bassinet, they have to move! I'd probably try it all at once, but if it's really a struggle, I'd go cot first, then dummy.

[katiebear26]

[quote name='KRT' date='04/12/2012, 12:03 PM' post='15129809'

How old is your DD? I would want to get rid of the dummy by 4.5months or so if possible, but once they grow out of the bassinet, they have to move! I'd probably try it all at once, but if it's really a struggle, I'd go cot first, then dummy.
[/quote]

she's 4 months old, i've been reducing the dummy and only use it when she can't resettle at night. i know i'm probably confusing her but my resolve is less at 3am...

ok, so i'll try a sheet over the swaddle. she's not rolling yet and when she's on her play mat actually seems to not be itneresting in rolling anymore, but when she's in her swaddle and excited she does this cute bum roll thing and almost ends up on her side. a sheet might keep her flat!

she's already chewing on her hands so i might try to arms off swaddle once she gets used to the cot, and then it's no dummy at all :-/

thank you for your help!!

[KRT]

Have you tried an angel-style wrap? There are youtube videos of it, and it's great for a baby that likes to chew on their hands to settle, but still needs a swaddle. If she can get her hands up she has another option other than her dummy and might not need it at 3am!

[Wrenny]

I hope you don't mind me adding a related question to your topic.

I'm due with my first baby in February and am a little confused about wrapping / sheets.

I thought that if it was Summer you could just wrap the baby, and not have a top sheet. However, the midwife at our parenting education session at our hospital said that the baby should be wrapped and have a top sheet tightly over them, and that this was what SIDS recommended. When I look on the SIDS website, I only see pictures of a baby either wrapped or covered by a sheet/blanket, not with both. Can anyone help me with getting this right?

[iwanttosleepin]

I would recommend a pekemoe sleep sack. my DS2 slept in this until he was about 17 months old. it encloses the hands but allows full movement.

he had a dummy until he was 2 years old!

[katiebear26]

I hope you don't mind me adding a related question to your topic.

I'm due with my first baby in February and am a little confused about wrapping / sheets.

I thought that if it was Summer you could just wrap the baby, and not have a top sheet. However, the midwife at our parenting education session at our hospital said that the baby should be wrapped and have a top sheet tightly over them, and that this was what SIDS recommended. When I look on the SIDS website, I only see pictures of a baby either wrapped or covered by a sheet/blanket, not with both. Can anyone help me with getting this right?

bub was born in winter so this might not be relevant, but at first we used wrap plus sheet, then moved to wrap (the love to dream swaddle) only, but now she pulls her legs up and bum-shuffles around a lot so i've put the sheet back on to try to keep her still! she only has a light swaddle, a sheet, and the fan on all night.

i think the sheet does stop them moving earlier on as they can't move enough to loosen it, but eventually they do get out of it and it can become a nuisance if they get tangled in it.

good luck in feb!!

[axiomae]

We used the Love to Dream Swaddle until about 4 months, when I'd find DD halfway up her cot and on her belly! I went cold turkey, took her a while to figure out how to settle at first but after two days she slept so much better. She now rolls straight onto her tummy at bedtime! So much better in a sleeping bag. We put her in a singlet at bedtime and then I put her in the sleeping bag at about 9.30 when I dream feed her.